SUDDENLY!
There are three highly significant occasions in human history where God’s intervention is described as occurring suddenly.
The first is found in Luke chapter two when the Saviour’s birth was announced by the angel of the Lord. The trembling shepherds were told “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people”. Then we are told in Luke 2:13, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”. The coming of the Saviour must be regarded as one of the brightest days for mankind. Light, life and hope had come into a world of darkness and ignorance. Forgiveness of sins would become available through the Saviour’s death and rising again. There is hope for all mankind in the Lord Jesus. What an amazing experience was shared by these shepherds! And it happened suddenly.
So the Saviour dwelt among us. He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. For God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). Then we have the expression of God’s incredible love for us when at the cross, “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all”. The Saviour must die, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter2:24). But there was that blessed day when God raised Him from the dead. Scripture tells us that Jesus was “delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification”. The world must hear “the good tidings of great joy” and so the Saviour gathered His disciples around Him and gave them His great commission. They were to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). One can well believe that the disciples were eager to go at once and share the good news of salvation. But the Saviour told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. For ten days after the Lord’s ascension they waited and then the record tells us that as they were together on the day of Pentecost, “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting….and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:3,4). The Comforter had come and it happened suddenly. The results were dramatic. This little group of men, empowered by the Holy Spirit went forth and preached the gospel everywhere, God “confirming His word with signs following”.
But then we have a momentous event that is yet to happen suddenly, that is the second coming of our Lord Jesus. In Mark 13:35,36, the Saviour gave us a timely word of warning saying, “Watch therefore for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight or in the morning – lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. Repeatedly, we are told that the return of the Lord Jesus will take the world unawares. It is likened to the coming of “a thief in the night”, like a flash of lightning (Luke 17:24), at an hour that no man knows. How are we to live in the light of this dramatic event? We are told to watch, to pray, to work, and to live daily as though the Saviour was coming this day.
Oh joy! Oh delight, should we go without dying,
No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying;
Caught up thro’ the clouds with our Lord into glory,
When Jesus receives His own.
Hallelujah!
This article was written by Pastor Geoffrey Davies. He is a frequent contributor to this column. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he pastored a church for over twenty-five years. Since 1983 he has travelled widely, continuing his ministry of encouragement and Bible teaching.
